Colon Cancer News Blog From Medicineworld.Org

March 15, 2011, 11:11 PM CT

Unusual treatment of colonic perforation

Colonoscopy is considered a safe procedure, eventhough complications can occur. The most dreaded of these is iatrogenic perforation. The literature reports perforation rates of 0.03%-0.8% for diagnostic procedures, and a rate of 0.15%-3% for therapeutic procedures. Mechanisms of perforation are the result of either mechanical disruption of the colonic wall (e.g. thermal injury, forced push into a diverticulum, or stretching of the bowel with loops or the slide-by technique) or excessive air insufflation. After perforation, prompt abdominal surgery is often recommended, especially in the last few years, following the introduction of laparoscopic approaches in clinical practice. Nevertheless, conservative therapy is a feasible and effective option for patients who are clinically stable and without peritonism or life threatening signs.

A research article published on February 28, 2011 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The authors reported a case of a 63-year-old male who experienced an iatrogenic sigmoid perforation repaired combining three endoscopic techniques.

The lesion was large and irregular with three discrete perforations, therefore, the authors decided to close it by placing one clip per perforation, and then connecting all the clips with two endoloops. Finally they chose to use a fibrin glue injection to obtain a complete sealing. Four days after the colonoscopy the patient underwent a laparoscopic right hemicolectomy due to evidence of a large polyp of the caecum with high grade dysplasia and focal carcinoma in situ. Inspection of the sigma showed complete repair of the perforation.........

Virtual colonoscopy and teleradiology in rural areas

Virtual colonoscopy

Computed tomography colonography (CTC) otherwise known as virtual colonoscopy is feasible in remote health centers where optimal colonoscopy is limited, as per a research studyin the recent issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org).

The study waccording toformed at Fort Defiance Indian Hospital in Fort Defiance, AZ, and Tuba City Regional Health Care Center in Tuba City, AZ, both of which are rural medical centers serving Native American, mainly Navajo, populations. After brief on-site instruction, including performing a CTC examination on a volunteer to train the CT technologists, both sites began performing CTC.

"A total of 321 studies were transferred to the University of Arizona Hospital for evaluation, with reports returned via a teleradiology information system. Overall image quality evaluation of stool, fluid and distention revealed that about 92 percent of patients had diagnostic quality examinations with respect to each image quality parameter," said Arnold C. Friedman, MD, main author of the study.

"Optical colonoscopy in a number of rural areas is limited. Availability of CTC permits access to a robust method of colorectal screening for rural patients," said Friedman.

"Our results show that CTC can be introduced with minimal effort to rural undeserved communities, adequately performed locally, and then interpreted remotely. However, important aspects of implementation should include technologist training, referring doctor education, careful attention to image transmission and clearly defined methods of communication with patients and referring providers," he said.........

Vaccine Against Colorectal Cancer

British scientists have developed a vaccine that stimulates colorectal cancer patients' immune systems to fight malignant cells.

In a clinical trial of 67 patients, scientists at the University of Nottingham found that when the vaccines were administered before and after surgery to remove malignant tumors, they helped stimulated immune cell production in up to 70 percent of patients. These results are reported in the November 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

"This is the first vaccine shown to stimulate TNF-alpha an immune-system protein that is very effective at killing cancer cells," said Lindy Durrant, senior author of the study and professor of cancer immunotherapy at the university.

The vaccine works by stimulating the patients' immune response to generate infection-fighting white blood cells called T cells, which in turn produce immune system proteins called cytokines that destroy cancer cells. The antibody contained in the vaccine, called 105AD7, was cloned from a patient who survived seven years with liver metastases from colorectal cancer, Durrant explained.

"This is very unusual as most patients die within one year of getting liver metastases," she said. "I thought if this antibody had helped this patient, if we could clone it, it might help others".........

Virtual Colonoscopy More Expensive

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center scientists have observed that "virtual" colonoscopy using a computer tomography (CT) scanner is considerably more expensive than the traditional procedure due to the detection of suspicious images outside of the colon.

"Virtual colonoscopy will certainly play a role in the future of colon cancer screening," said gastroenterologist Richard S. Bloomfeld, M.S., M.D., assistant professor of medicine at Wake Forest Baptist and a member of the research team. "It is important to understand the implications of findings outside the colon before we advocate wide-spread use of this technology".

Virtual colonoscopy, also known as CT-colonography (CTC), was developed at Wake Forest Baptist. It allows doctors to use Computerized axial tomography scanners to look at the colon to detect polyps (small growths in the colon that may become malignant if they are not removed) and cancers. Virtual reality software allows them to look inside the body without having to insert a long tube (conventional colonoscopy) into the colon or without having to fill the colon with liquid barium (barium enema).

Research performed at Wake Forest Baptist and elsewhere has shown that CTC is better able to see polyps than barium enemas and is nearly as accurate as conventional colonoscopy. Most patients report that CTC is more comfortable than either procedure.........

New Way To Treat Colon Cancer?

Scientists at University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute have discovered a new target for possible future colon cancer therapys a molecule that is implicated in 85 percent of colon cancer cases.

These findings were published online Oct. 6, 2006, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

By knocking out that is, genetically disabling a molecule called C-Terminal Binding Protein (CTBP) scientists were able to rescue zebrafish from the effects of a mutation in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene.

In humans, mutations in this gene long have been known to initiate a series of events that cause colon polyps, which eventually become malignant. APC mutations play a role in 85 percent of colon cancers. The new findings mean CTBP also is involved in that proportion of colon cancers.

In zebrafish, APC mutations keep the intestine from developing properly. "In essence, knocking out CTPB promotes normal development of the intestine in zebrafish carrying an APC mutation," says David A. Jones, a University of Utah associate professor of oncological sciences and leader of the study.

In normal cells of both humans and zebrafish, the APC gene controls the amount of CTBP present by marking it for destruction. In tumor cells with mutated APC, CTPB is not destroyed; instead it accumulates in the cell.........

Scientists Stop Colon Cancer Growth In Mice

Scientists from Texas were able to stop the growth of colon cancer in mice by blocking just one enzyme. They say that this is a big step against conquering cancer. Even though this was an experiment on mice, these scientists hope that their findings might soon find its way to human cancers including colon cancer.

In cell culture experiments, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and the University of Texas at Arlington determined that stopping the activity of a single enzyme called aldose reductase could shut down the toxic network of biochemical signals that promotes inflammation and colon cancer cell growth.

In a dramatic demonstration of the potential of this discovery, they followed up this work with animal studies showing that blocking the production of aldose reductase halted the growth of human colon cancer cells implanted in laboratory mice.

"By inhibiting aldose reductase we were able to completely stop the further growth of colorectal cancer tumor cells," said UTMB professor Satish K. Srivastava, senior author of a paper about the discovery would be published Oct. 1 in the journal Cancer Research.

As per the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, colon cancer is the country's second leading cancer killer. In 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 70,651 men and 68,883 women were diagnosed with colon cancer in the United States; 28,471 men and 28,132 women died from the disease.........

Curry And Onions May Prevent Colon Cancer

A small but informative clinical trial by Johns Hopkins researchers shows that a pill combining chemicals found in turmeric, a spice used in curries, and onions reduces both the size and number of premalignant lesions in the human intestinal tract.

In the study, reported in the recent issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, five patients with an inherited form of premalignant polyps in the lower bowel known as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) were treated with regular doses of curcumin (the chemical found in turmeric) and quercetin, an antioxidant in onions, over an average of six months. The average number of polyps dropped 60.4 percent, and the average size dropped by 50.9 percent, as per a team led by Francis M. Giardiello, M.D., at the Division of Gastroenterology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Marcia Cruz-Correa, M.D., Ph.D., at Johns Hopkins and the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine.

"We believe this is the first proof of principle that these substances have significant effects in patients with FAP," says Giardiello.

Typically familial adenomatous polyposis is a disorder that runs in families and is characterized by the development of hundreds of colorectal adenomas (polyps) and eventual colon cancer. Recently, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been used to treat some patients with this condition, but these compounds often produce significant side effects, including gastrointestinal ulcerations and bleeding, as per Giardiello.........

Suggest your News Item To Medicineworld

As you are aware we are the leading publishers of health news on the web. We publish news items in various forms including numerous blogs and news items. We invite you to participate in our new collection.

We are looking for quality news items that would be interesting to our readers. Now you may suggest the news item from your site to be included at Medicineworld.org. Inclusion of news item at our site get instantaneous attention since the item is illustrated from various blog posts. Addition of pictures to the item adds additional attraction to your news item. Inclusion in the Medicineworld.org site brings quality links and visitors to your site.

If you have an interesting news item related to health, share it with Medicineworld.org and we share it with the world.

Avastin And Taxol For Breast Cancer

Avastin, and anti-angiogenesis drug is now showing promise in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer. A new research led by Dr Robin Zon, of Michiana Hematology-Oncology, PC in South Bend, Indiana has shown that combining Avastin with Taxol improves outcome in patients with metastatic breast cancer. The study has shown that a combination of Avastin and Taxol is more effective in prevention of progression of breast cancer compared to using Taxol alone.

Avastin is an anti-angiogenesis drug that works by blocking the formation of new blood vessels by the growing cancer cells. Some claim that the combination of chemotherapy and Avastin works better by facilitating chemotherapy delivery to the cancer cells.

This new research studied effectiveness of Avastin in combination with Taxol. The study enrolled in total of 722 patients with advanced breast cancer. The study found that combination of Avastin and Taxol was capable of keeping the cancer stable for a period of 11.4 months in women who received the drug combo compared to 6.11 months in patients who had only been given Taxol.

Researchers say that this presents yet another option for patients with advanced breast cancer. "These results are good news for people with breast cancer," said Zon who presented the results of the trial sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute at the 5th European Breast Cancer Conference in Nice, France.........

Pharmacogenomics For Colorectal Cancer Treatment

University of Chicago scientists have licensed a genetic test that determines which patients are likely to have a serious adverse reaction to irinotecan hydrochloride (Camptosarandreg;), a key component of the standard first-line therapy for advanced cancers of the colon and rectum, to Mayo Clinic.

Until now, the UGT1A1 test has only been available to patients enrolled in studies at the University of Chicago. Third Wave had received FDA approval for its UGT1A1 test kit in August, but the test had still not been made available to patients.

Through this licensing agreement, Mayo Clinic's reference laboratory, Mayo Medical Laboratories (MML), will make the test available to patients nationwide, starting this month.

The UGT1A1 test was developed and patented by Mark J. Ratain, MD, the Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues. It gives doctors advance knowledge of an individual's risk for toxicity from irinotecan by revealing whether patients have one of two common versions of a gene that encodes for a protein involved in the metabolism of irinotecan.

"Eventhough most patients tolerate the drug quite well, some patients are genetically predisposed to severe side effects from irinotecan therapy," said Ratain. "The UGT1A1 test enables us to know in advance which patients are at risk. Those patients could be given reduced doses of irinotecan or other chemotherapy drugs".........

Test For Patients With Colorectal Cancer

University of Chicago scientists have licensed a genetic test that determines which patients are likely to have a serious adverse reaction to irinotecan hydrochloride (Camptosarandreg;), a key component of the standard first-line therapy for advanced cancers of the colon and rectum, to Mayo Clinic.

Until now, the UGT1A1 test has only been available to patients enrolled in studies at the University of Chicago. Third Wave had received FDA approval for its UGT1A1 test kit in August, but the test had still not been made available to patients.

Through this licensing agreement, Mayo Clinic's reference laboratory, Mayo Medical Laboratories (MML), will make the test available to patients nationwide, starting this month.

The UGT1A1 test was developed and patented by Mark J. Ratain, MD, the Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues. It gives doctors advance knowledge of an individual's risk for toxicity from irinotecan by revealing whether patients have one of two common versions of a gene that encodes for a protein involved in the metabolism of irinotecan.

"Eventhough most patients tolerate the drug quite well, some patients are genetically predisposed to severe side effects from irinotecan therapy," said Ratain. "The UGT1A1 test enables us to know in advance which patients are at risk. Those patients could be given reduced doses of irinotecan or other chemotherapy drugs".

This kind of customized dosing based on a person's genetic makeup is known as pharmacogenomics and is at the forefront of 21st century medicine. The UGT1A1 test is part of a growing list of pharmacogenomic tests designed to help physicians personalize therapy options.........

Computer-Aided Polyp Detection Software (December 11, 2005)A study led by the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center finds that computer-aided detection (CAD) software in conjunction with a procedure usually called virtual colonoscopy can deliver results comparable to conventional optical colonoscopy for detecting the most worrisome types of polyps.